1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to merchandisers with central heating and control mechanisms and methods for manufacturing such merchandisers. In particular, the invention relates to merchandisers, in which the heating mechanism is positioned to facilitate the reconfiguration of the merchandiser glass front profile and a control mechanism positioned adjacent to the heating mechanism above the merchandiser's rear access doors. Moreover, the invention relates to methods for and relating to reconfiguring merchandiser glass front profiles.
2. Description of Related Art
Known merchandisers have limited design flexibility. Aesthetic changes are difficult, costly, or impossible in the field and time consuming during production. In particular, known designs generally provide for the front support (nosepiece) to be attached in the first step of assembly. This makes reconfiguring the glass front profile of the merchandise difficult or impossible later in the field.
For example, if a merchandiser is designed as a curved profile unit, it is impossible to change the glass front profile further during the manufacturing process (if a customer order should request a profile change) without disassembling the merchandiser. The later in the manufacturing process, at which a design change is initiated, the more time-consuming the change becomes. Moreover, it is difficult or impossible to make such changes in the field. Thus, generally, if a customer wishes to change the profile of its merchandiser, the customer purchases a new merchandiser because the old merchandiser could not be economically reconfigured.
Moreover, the glass initially selected by the customer is prefabricated and permanently fixed in a mounting sub-assembly. If the customer wishes to change the requested profile during manufacture, this sub-assembly could be removed, but would have to be stored until the arrival of another order for that profile.
Known merchandiser designs provide that each unique well configuration e.g., CMT-5, left-hand) have its own well. Consequently, there are on average three (3) different wells for each merchandiser size, depending upon its configuration (e.g., self-serve on the left or right, full-serve unit only, and self-serve unit only). This further limits flexibility in merchandiser design and make desirable options, practically unavailable. For instance, the self-serve portion of a combined self-serve/full-service merchandiser was about 635 mm (about 25 inches) wide. A combination merchandiser may not be reversed such that the 635 mm (about 25-inch) wide portion was full-serve and the other end well was self-serve.
Many heated merchandisers use low pressure/low velocity air movement around the displayed food product to achieve adequate holding performance. Higher air circulation rates may maintain the food at the required temperature for a longer period of time, but also may cause a higher rate of evaporation and may dry the product out more quickly. This low pressure/low velocity circulation of air may create a series of problems due to an associated stratification of the air inside the heated portion of the merchandiser. For example, the upper portion of the merchandiser food product cavity may tend to experience high exterior surface temperatures. The problem is currently addressed by the addition of a heat shield or barrier or the application of additional insulation in the affected areas. Electronic components, such as controls and sensors, may be more effective from an ergonomics standpoint if mounted in the upper portion of the food product cavity, but in that position, may be subjected to the high temperature environment. Traditional solutions to this problem have been to accept the ergonomic disadvantage of placing the controls in another location [or to use fans to exhaust the high temperature air in the control areas]. Finally, low volume air circulation may lead to "fogging" of the front glass under certain conditions.
Existing merchandisers with doors on the serving side are problematic for high volume operators during peak service periods. The problems with such merchandiser are due in large part to the need to frequently open and close the doors between serving customers in order to maintain air temperature and humidity within the food product cavity. If the merchandiser is operated as specified, the server may have a difficult time keeping up with demand. In some cases, doors are left in the open position or even removed, but the quality of the food product may diminish rapidly in this open environment. Simply increasing the power supplied to the heating elements may not solve the problem because the energy is not necessarily distributed evenly enough to create a consistent product environment throughout the food product cavity. Further, this attempted solution does not achieve efficient operation of the merchandiser and may create other problems within the merchandiser.